New Year Mystery Man
by deathrosekitty
Summary: Counting down the New Year Ino received the best kiss she had ever had in her life from a man she didn't even know. Will the mystery man show up in her life again? –Minific- AU [SasuIno formal ending] Writing alternative endings has been abandoned. COMPLETE
1. New Year's Party

**I do not own Naruto.**

_Rated T for some language, though lightly._

_Counting down the New Year Ino received the best kiss she had ever had in her life from a man she didn't even know. Will the mystery man show up in her life again? –Minific- AU_

**New Year Mystery Man**

**Chapter 1: New Year's Party**

Ino Yamanaka was all decked out. Purple mini, blond hair flowing down, and red lipstick; it was the whole shebang. Her best friend had opted out of going to the party Ino had scored invitation too in order to study.

Some people just didn't take winter break as _fun_ instead of work. Ugh.

"This is my song!" She yelled, even though there was no one she knew there. Ino shrugged it off and started dancing.

After a few fast songs a slow one started to play, so she vacated the dance floor. She wasn't going to be that desperate girl who slow dances by herself.

Ino was a bit depressed that none of the guys were asking her to dance. A few of them were very good looking. Oh well, she could make the first move. She wasn't known as bossy and aggressive for nothing.

Her phone vibrated.

_I can't believe you went alone.  
CherryBlossum_

_I can't believe you stayed at home. You suck Sakura.  
PurpleCosmos_

_Yeah, yeah. Send me some pics if you see any ultra hot guys.  
CherryBlossum_

Ino rolled her eyes.

_Dork.  
PurpleCosmos_

_Pig.  
CherryBlossum_

Ino scanned the room. She still had two hours to countdown. She had better get to work if she wanted a kiss to ring in the New Year.

Her blue eyes twinkled. She'd listen in to their conversations before she decided to pounce.

One of the groups nearest to her was three boys who were kind of cute. One had a hoody on with sunglasses covering his eyes. Another had messy hair and sharp canine teeth. The last one seemed to have a smile permanently marred on his face. His dark hair was neat, and he held a sketch pad underneath one arm.

Ino snuck closer.

"Man, you would not believe what Akamaru threw up today!"

"…"

"I'm supposed to care what your dog threw up?"

"What's more important is how many fleas he has…"

"Come on now; don't get all obsessed with bugs at a time like this Shino!"

The dark haired man made a comment about male genitals and Ino turned bright pink. She decided not to engage in conversation with them.

A few tables away there were two males. One who had an obscene amount of face paint on (what is this Halloween?) and the other was a quite red haired man with no eyebrows and raccoon eyes.

_Well, at least he's cute…_ Ino thought before sitting at the table behind them.

"Man this is boring!"

"…"

"Why'd we have to come here?"

"…"

"Where the hell did Temari go!? I want to get out of here."

"I think she's over there…" The redhead finally decided to speak.

Ino weighed the options in her head. It seemed like he would be hard to engage and face paint dude's complaining would be a downer. Plus 'Temari' might be a girlfriend of one of them.

_Maybe I'll try them later._ She decided. No point in scoring out early.

Three men sat to the table on her right. One was older with a scruffy beard, another with his hair pulled back and bored stare. The last was a chubby looking cutey who was stuffing his face. Ugh.

"I can't believe we found a go board so easily." One of them remarked.

"Hmm, at least it wasn't a troublesome task. That would have been a bother."

"Let's play a round, Shikamaru."

The chubby one spoke up. "I'm going to get some more food, I'll be right back."

"Don't get into any trouble Choji."

He waved them off easily. Ino deadpanned. _Dorks. They'd be good matches for Sakura._ Once they started talking strategy Ino got up and left the table area.

She snuck back on the dance floor.

"Woo!" A loud blond with an orange jumpsuit jumped up and down, doing a wild dance. Ino almost started giggling before she realized that he was dancing with a hideous guy that the blond loudly called 'Lee'.

"For youth!" Lee exclaimed before he started break dancing.

"Oh no." Ino stated before fleeing the dance floor as well. No way did she want to see that.

She leaned up against the far wall with the people too scared to dance. Her blue eyes sized up a long haired man who stood so rigidly she fought back making a crack about something stuck up there.

He glared at her as if saying she was below him. She glared back. Ino dared him to say something with her eyes, but he just looked away. She didn't exist to him.

Ino huffed. _What's wrong with all these damned people?_

She noticed another man who leaned up against the wall. She had no idea why he was there; parties didn't seem like his type of thing. He was dark haired and unbelievably handsome. However, he was also surrounded by a ton of girls trying to get his attention.

His glare was cold and full of anger. Ino shivered. There was no way she'd go anywhere near him. But she was tempted. She was completely tempted.

But why make a fool out of yourself for nothing?

Ino sighed. There were many more men she could scope out, but somehow hunting them down didn't seem as enjoyable anymore. She started remembering all the guys she had dated in the past. She had been the one to chase after every one of them. No one ever chased after her…

The dancing stopped and the countdown started.

"10!"

Ino lifted her eyes to watch the timer; she didn't count with the rest of the crowd.

"9!"

She sighed.

"8!"

"Get a hold of yourself Ino! You're better than this!" She spoke to herself.

"7!"

She joined the crowd.

"6!"

She yelled the numbers with the rest of them; forcing herself to forget about her loneliness.

"5!"

She ignored the couples cozying up to each other.

"4!"

_Come on New Year! Come on!_

"3!"

_I'll get a boyfriend this year! I swear it._

"2!"

Someone bumped into her side. She ignored it.

"1!"

Ino closed her eyes to cheer, but her voice was cut off by someone's lips on hers. She reacted instantly by locking her lips with theirs. Butterflies flew through her stomach as she pulled the body closer. He was hard and lean, like he worked out.

His tongue connected with hers and they fought for dominance. It was perfect. It was magical.

She opened her eyes to see the man who kissed her. She was shocked.

As Ino was left speechless the man slipped into the crowd. She forgot to ask for a number or to run him down.

She was too consumed with the amazing feeling he left inside her. Ino stood there even when people started leaving. It took her some time for her mind to kick in, but what it told her was _it's time to go home_ instead of _find that great kisser of a man_.

Ino felt like her world was upside down, but what could she do about it? She didn't know him, he didn't know her. What could she do to see a stranger again when she didn't know his interests or hangouts?

And it was all from one simple kiss.

**Who do you think it is?**


	2. Details, Details

**Chapter 2: Details, Details**

Ino's neck had begun to hurt. She didn't know how many times she had propped her head up to leaf through a magazine while waiting for her shift to end. It's been so many years it was like second nature.

She sighed.

It had been a few days, almost a week after the New Year's party and she was kind of missing it. Well, she was kind of missing the guy she had kissed.

If only she had gone up to talk to him!

The blond frequently wondered what his name was, if he had a girlfriend, what his favorite color was, what college he might be in…

Gah! This was driving her mad! Where was a distraction when a girl needed one?

"Hey, Ino pig!" Sakura greeted loudly as the bell chimed on the door.

"Hey." Ino didn't even feel up to insulting her friend back. She just wanted to see that boy again.

Sakura gave Ino a strange look. "Is something wrong? Where's the loud voice? The 'I'm so perfect' attitude?"

"I don't have to pretend to be perfect Sakura –"

The pink haired girl cut her off. "Yeah, yeah. Now there's that narcissism peeking out. What's going on? You've been weird since that exclusive party you went to. Alone."

Ino rolled her eyes. Sakura loved bringing up that she didn't force her along, even though Sakura was too stubborn, insisting on going over homework instead.

"Sorry, didn't want to share the attention all the hot guys were giving me." Ino quipped. Sakura copied Ino's eye roll.

"Well at least you didn't say that they'd ignore me, which brings me back to the point I was making. Something is wrong with you." Sakura pointed out. "You know, more than what's normally wrong with you, piggy."

"Shut it, forehead."

"Not until you tell me what… or more likely who… is on your mind." Sakura smiled.

Ino glared back at her friend. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Just tell me, or I'll have to blackmail you."

"You can't blackmail me." Ino snorted. "I'm the one that TAUGHT it to you."

Sakura shrugged. "Then it's just a matter of who has more embarrassing information about the other."

Ino smirked. "Christmas."

"Thanksgiving." Sakura retorted.

"Halloween."

"Pft. Please, Halloween and the day before."

The girls glared at each other. "We do a lot of embarrassing things when we're together."

"It's mostly your fault Ino; I wouldn't normally do half the stuff I do when you're egging me on."

"You have to admit that I am a lot of fun."

Sakura huffed. "Now tell me all about this guy you're pining after!"

Ino smiled as she propped her head by both hands. Her magazine was long forgotten now that she was going to toy with the information she may or may not give to Sakura.

"Well… He was hot."

The pink haired gave her friend a disbelieving look, "No? Really? Come on, Ino give me some real details."

"He was… taller than me."

"Wow. " Sakura smirked. "You're a giant. That must have felt great to look up at him."

Ino smacked the other girl's arm. "We didn't talk the whole night, but I felt his eyes on me more than once." So she was adlibbing. Who could blame her after listening to all of those weird guys?

"He sought me out and kissed me when everyone counted down to one. It was an amazing kiss. He didn't drool all over me, or try to tongue me to death."

"That's gross, Ino." Sakura deadpanned.

The blond shrugged. She knew the pink haired girl was waiting for more information, but that was all she was going to give. She picked up the forgotten magazine.

Sakura waved her hands around. "That's ALL you're going to tell me? What's his hair color? What length is it? What color are his eyes? What was he wearing? DESCRIBE him, not some vague form of romance that you two tangoed with for one night and that's all there is to say."

"But that is all there is to say." Ino chimed. "I don't know him and I'll never see him again."

"I didn't think you would be one to give up so quickly, Ino pig." Sakura shook her head at the blond. "You're losing your touch."

"I AM LOSING NOTHING!" Ino shrieked. "I just couldn't think clearly after he kissed me!"

Sakura suddenly doubled over laughing. Ino realized her mistake. She let something slip that she hadn't meant to.

"Ha, ha! Ino… couldn't think… got bested by a guy… from one kiss!" The green eyed girl started laughing harder, until all Ino could here were gasping breaths.

She brushed her long hair back and put it in a ponytail while Sakura went into hysterics. Ino believed that keeping as much to herself as possible was definitely best. There was no telling what Sakura might do with anymore damaging information.

Ino debated poking Sakura with the end of a broom, but her father came down from the upstairs of their families flower shop. He paid little attention to the girls after giving Ino the okay to go, but that was to be expected. He had long ago gotten used to the two wildly teasing and laughing at each other.

A few more giggles escaped Sakura as she walked with Ino, "Where to now?"

"I don't know. The mall?"

"Do you ever get tired of shopping?"

"No."

"You're paying for lunch."

"Fine, Forehead."

"Aww." Sakura poked Ino's cheek. "See you're cheering up now."

"I'm not telling you anymore about the mystery guy."

Sakura pouted. "Not fair."

Little did Ino know once she proclaimed him as 'mystery guy', Sakura wouldn't give up trying to find out more. The pink haired girl annoyed the blond everywhere they had gone. She suddenly blamed herself for teaching Sakura to be stubborn. Where was that shy girl she once was? Bring her back!

"Come on!" Sakura pleaded.

"No."

"I'll give you my Tsunade lipstick collection."

Ino stubbornly refused to say anything. Despite her whining about wanting that specific collection for months and not getting it she knew nothing good would come of it.

Sakura touched her chin with a finger. "You know you can probably find him. You're pretty good at spying and not getting caught. Then again, he wasn't that important… Kisses mean nothing, right?"

The blond sighed. It had been the best kiss of her life since she had started dating. Sakura had a roundabout point. Ino hated that about her smart best friend.

"You have a point." She hedged. A smirk started creeping up the blond girl's mouth. Sakura was smart, Ino was clever. They were the most capable women anywhere. She would find her man.

Well, he'll learn the hard way that he was no Ino Yamanaka's.

"Where do we start?" Sakura asked.

Ino pulled out a flyer from her purse. "Where else? The place the party was hosted itself."

"Pretty fancy flyer."

She let the pink haired girl pull the piece of paper out of her hand and analyze it. Her green eyes skimmed the words.

_Business men everywhere!  
Come to our party for fun and to  
make more connections._

_For those who love mixing business and pleasure…_

Sakura gave Ino an unreadable look as she stopped reading the flyer. "This is horrible. Why would you want someone who mixes business and pleasure? This is for some sleaze balls…"

Ino cut her off. "It's for twenty-one to twenty-five year olds." She pointed to one of the fine prints. "And there were other girls there."

"I think you need professional help, Ino. There is no way that any guy who would go to this would be right for you."

Ino winked at her worried friend. "You'd be surprised."

"This is going to be bad."

"Don't be such a drama queen."

"Sorry," Sakura handed the flyer back. "I know that's your job, not mine."

"Right, well… Are you ready to check around where the party was held?"

"If I have too… but something doesn't feel right with this…"

Ino smacked her arm. "Don't start getting bad premonitions when we haven't done anything yet!"

Sakura groaned. "I have a feeling this is going to be the most humiliating thing ever."

"Obviously you don't know me that well." Ino teased. "I'll come up with plenty of more embarrassing things after this adventure!"

"I thought this was a mystery…" Sakura added.

Ino rolled her eyes. "The man is the mystery, forehead. And we're going to hunt him down!"

"Where'd your hesitation go?"

"Out the window," Ino hugged the other girl. "Thanks for cheering me up."

Sakura laughed. "I can't wait to see what this guy looks like!"

The two hurried off towards the hotel that held the party. Both of them were hoping that they'd get good results.

**Who do you think it is?**


	3. Answers

"_What?" Sakura held up five phone numbers. She didn't quite get the gist of what the girl was saying, but she knew that one of these five men might be the one from the New Year's party._

_XXX_

_Ino tried to unscramble her head from all the clues. What was she supposed to do now? _

X-X-X

Chapter 3: Answers

Ino and Sakura entered the large hall. The two girls immediately gazed at each other then split up.

Ino strolled through the room that had held the party. She started to reminisce about that night with a small smile on her face.

Sakura was still at the front desk with a forceful smile on her face. "I just want to know about the guys at the business party on New Year's…"

The man scoffed. "You think I was born yesterday? I know all about money grabbing girls like you. I'm not telling you anything."

There was a light tick in her forehead that showed just how annoyed Sakura was, but she pushed it aside. "Ah, my friend was here for the party and she kissed this handsome guy at the countdown and we were just wondering his name."

"Go somewhere else home wrecker. There are good businessmen that use this hotel for private parties. I won't be giving any of their information out to the likes of you."

Alright, that did it. The pink haired girl grabbed the man by the front of his suit. "Listen here old man, if you aren't willing to push me in the right direction I will have a talk with your higher ups and it will NOT be pretty once they learn how you treat female customers."

He gulped by the sheer power of Sakura's fists. As she let him go she noticed just how far she pulled him to her. She didn't get the chance to be embarrassed by her own strength because the front desk man called up a few workers that had been there that night and soon she was off walking with them towards the party hall.

"So who do you want to contact?" One of the females asked. There were three of them huddling around Sakura. All of them excited for gossip.

"You guys worked the night of the party?"

"Yeah." One girl popped her gum. "It was fabulous, though I spent most of my time glued to the handsome Sasuke Uchiha."

"Ah! He is so yummy!"

"I know, I know."

Sakura felt that the name was familiar, but she couldn't place where she had heard it. She decided to discard the guy they were drooling over. "Anyway, there was a girl with long blond hair and blue eyes…"

"Oh! With the tight purple dress! I remember." The third girl squealed. "She looked like a model. The guys were following her with their eyes everywhere, though she was too snobby to talk to anyone."

_You had to play hard to get didn't you Ino?_ Sakura scowled at her ridiculous friend. The three girls didn't notice. They were too busy talking amongst themselves.

"Well she kissed someone at midnight and she doesn't know his name. I'm wondering if any of you saw who it was or what he looked like."

A faint blush covered her cheeks as the girls looked her over. Sakura knew she sounded jealous or (worst case) in love with her best friend, but how else was she going to figure out what this guy's physical features were?

They started talking again.

"I didn't see that."

"But there were some guys looking at her the whole night."

"Some of them were glares." One girl laughed. "She did look really easy."

"I got it!" Another one declared. "There's a list of who was at the party along with pictures, I can get the names and numbers from the guys that were staring at her for you."

"Ah, that would make it easy to find her girlfriend's mystery tryst."

Sakura growled. "She is NOT my girlfriend."

The girl's laughed it off as they started walking. Sakura had no choice but to follow after silently vowing to beat the tar out of Ino for making her life nothing but trouble.

XXX

"Hello, miss." A polite man bowed to Ino. She bowed back.

"Hi."

"What brings you here today?"

"Oh…" Ino stalled before deciding to tell the truth, "I just wanted to daydream a little."

He smiled. "Not to be rude, but I remember a girl that looked just like you at a party the other day."

Ino beamed at him, "New Year's?"

"Yes."

"I was there. I kissed someone at midnight, but…"

"Ah, I see." The man started to dust here and there as he talked to her. "You didn't know him."

"Yes…" She agreed.

"Was it magical?" He laughed when she gave him a strange look. "I have three daughters."

"It was perfect. I know it's silly, but I want to see him again."

"Then maybe I should give you a clue."

"A clue?" She repeated. _Man, this old guy is weird._

"There's been a man who's been asking about a long blond haired woman with blue eyes. Do you want me to describe him?"

Ino's eyes sparkled. "Yes, please!"

XXX

"Umm. Maybe it was that one."

"No, it was that one, the other one never stared at her openly."

"Hmm, maybe we should add a few more…"

"No! We said five. Just stick with five."

"Alright." The last girl sighed. She handed Sakura five separate scraps of paper. All of them had a name and a number. "Just don't come back crying if they aren't the one."

"What?" Sakura held up the five phone numbers. She didn't quite get the gist of what the girl was saying, but she knew that one of these five men might be the one from the New Year's party. "Why would I come back crying when one of these are my friend's mystery guy?"

"They might not be." The girl's answered cryptically, "There's no way of knowing who it was. No one paid THAT much attention to your friend."

Two of the three girls left. Sakura stared at the papers not sure which to pick first. The third girl hesitated by the door.

"Here," She pushed another paper in the pink haired girl's hands. "Try this one first."

Sakura stood there alone. She felt stunned. Would one of them really be the one? She started back to find Ino. The blond girl was waiting at the entrance.

"Yo, forehead! Let's get out of here!" Ino called loudly.

The pink haired girl stuck up her fist in frustration, "say that one more time and I'll clock you."

Ino waved off the empty threat. "Any luck?"

"Yeah," Sakura handed over the pieces of paper.

"Are you trying to get me to start my own harem?"

"No!" She protested. "These maids seemed to think it was one of these guys that kissed you."

"Oh," Ino pushed the papers into her messy purse. She decided to stay silent on her own conversation with the old man.

"I'm going with you; I already have a copy of all of those numbers so you can't leave me behind."

Ino's eye twitched. Yeah, it was definitely smart to leave Sakura out of the loop. She sighed, thinking about the seven people it could possibly be.

Where should she start?

Sakura picked out one of the numbers from the bag. "They said to start with this one."

**Who do you think it is? Better yet, whose names do you think are on the pieces of paper? Not to mention the one the other guy was talking about…**

**7 choices…**


	4. Mystery Man Revealed

Chapter 4: Mystery Man Revealed

Ino grabbed her ringing phone blindly. Her eyes were sealed shut. "What!?" She screeched into the ear of the person who decided to wake her up.

"Calm down, Ino-pig, we're going to meet your mystery guy today." Sakura's offended tone reached the blond woman.

She blinked before she remembered what's going on. There was one person not on those numbers that Sakura had no clue about. "Yeah, let's go after lunch."

"Don't get any ideas about going on your own, Ino pig."

Ino smirked. "Wouldn't dream of it, forehead."

Not that the pink haired girl needed to know she was lying, right? She'd meet this man on her own.

XXX

Ino played with the coffee cup in her hands. The espresso shop was small and not crowded. She wondered if what the old man said was right. Maybe this guy didn't come here every day? Maybe she was wrong…

She should leave now.

The blond female didn't have the chance to second guess when she saw him enter. She glanced away, out the window, like she hadn't seen him even though she wanted nothing more than to watch his every move. God he was so beautiful.

Should she act like she went here all the time and they happened to cross paths? Should she mention the old man?

Ino sat still. _He_ was the one that kissed _her_ after all. He should damn well make the first move if he had an interest in her. No, maybe she should go up to him?

She felt him sit across from her. Her blue eyes met his dark ones.

He smirked. It seemed like an amused and slightly curious response to her being there. Ino imagined him saying, _do you come here often?_

She smirked back. Of course he would never say something like that. "There was someone that told me about this place. They thought I should try it." She stated nonchalantly.

"Hn."

He leaned back to drink his coffee. They studied each other. She had no idea what he saw when he looked at her, but her gaze noticed those lovely eyes, the pale skin, strong features. Sasuke Uchiha was a sight to behold. She had been surprised at herself that she didn't throw herself at him at the party, but now she was glad she didn't. She had his attention now because she held back.

"Where's your entourage?"

Sasuke glared down at his coffee. "I can't stand it when girls cling to me."

Ino hid her mouth with her hand. She had almost burst out laughing at the whine that was hidden in his complaint. She didn't think he'd like her laughing at him. At the same time, she had a feeling he never admitted his obvious annoyance at being the center of attention for his looks before. Was she special? Or just lucky?

"Well you are a very attractive man." She stated the obvious.

He glared towards her like he expected her to join his ranks of fangirls. Ino gazed out of the window instead. If he didn't want her to fawn over him, then he sure as hell wasn't going to get that… for now. She could control herself for the moment.

Even though she wanted to touch him and kiss him over and over again.

"You didn't hunt me down like most girls do." He stated. He turned his dark eyes towards the window as well.

"I kind of did though. I asked around about you and waited here because my informant told me you come here often." Ino admitted sheepishly. As much as she didn't want to be roped in with all those other girls she really was no different. "It was kind of a coin toss really to jump on you at the party, but I didn't want to be rejected like everyone else."

_Besides, that kiss you gave me was amazing._

Sasuke leaned in towards Ino and for a second she forgot how to breathe.

"Give me your number."

It was a demand, plain and simple. Ino blinked at him. She didn't think he asked any girl for her number before by the way he stated it. Would he like it if she gave in? Would he be mad if she made it too easy? He obviously liked it better when he was the one calling the shots rather than being chased after. How long could Ino hold back from her aggressive nature?

Ino winked as she propped one arm up to hold her head on. "Why don't I give you my name and you can track me down for a date instead?"

Now he was the one who had to play the mystery/detective game.

Ino texted Sakura:

_My mystery man found me!  
PurpleCosmos_

_Not fair! I told you to wait!  
CherryBlossums_

_Sorry forehead! I guess I'm just irresistible.  
PurpleCosmos_

_Irresistible like a pimple…  
CherryBlossums_

Ino ignored her friend's insult and enjoyed her impromptu coffee date with Sasuke. He didn't talk much, so she asked questions and told him little things about her. He was hard to read, but as they parted ways he told her he'd find her when he was free from work.

There was nothing like a hot guy being interested in you. Ino had to admit she was very pleased with herself.

**Literally EVERYONE who reviewed said it had to be Sasuke. (And I was planning for it to be him as well. What a happy coincidence.) If I counted every single time Sasuke was mentioned his votes would have been up to 15 times Sasuke was mentioned. Mostly going Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke! Not that I mind. I was thinking the same thing (woo Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke!).**

**Since there were seven possibilities there are going six alternate endings minus this SasuIno formal ending. Good luck guessing who those lucky guys are! **

**I didn't want to make the ending too mushy. And I don't think that Sasuke really appreciates girls going after him, and if Sakura hadn't declared them rivals Ino probably wouldn't have been all over him, so I gave her more of a come hither-ish approach.**

**I didn't like how I originally wrote this so I kind of redid it. I hope this version came out better…**


	5. Alternate Ending 1

Alternative Ending 1: 

Sakura pushed one of the slips into Ino's face, "One of the girl's said to start with this one."

"Alright, just get your meaty hands out of my face."

"Like you're one to complain. Your hooves are ugly as hell."

Ino waved the piece of paper around. "Will you let me finish my lunch now?"

Sakura crossed her arms. She was eager to see what these guys looked like. Maybe some of them would be her type (after she found Ino's secret beau). "Hurry up."

The blond girl rolled her eyes as she fished out her phone from her purse. She dialed the number.

"Hello, my name is Ino Yamanaka, I was at the New Year's party and I was wondering if you'd spare me some time to talk face-to-face."

Sakura raised an eyebrow at her friend. She couldn't hear the other person's reply.

"Yes, that would be perfect. I'll meet you there." Ino closed her phone.

"Did he sound hot?"

Ino rolled her eyes, "you need to get a boyfriend."

The other girl shrugged. "Well there are five guys that aren't going to be your mystery man."

"Ah, well about that Sakura… There was one more."

"What? Are you serious? You haven't met up with him, have you?"

Ino rubbed the back of her head. "I did. He wasn't the one."

Sakura stopped herself from asking more. She didn't even feel angry after the embarrassed and semi withdrawn gaze that Ino had after admitting that.

"He was an ass." Sakura stated.

Ino smiled back. "Let's hope this one goes better." Because launching herself at the last one sure as hell didn't work.

XXX

Ino liked the click of her nails against the counter. She was waiting for the receptionist to let Sakura and her in even _after_ the infuriating woman stated several times that her boss was scheduled to meet with _one _girl instead of two.

"You would look cuter with your hair down instead of those two buns."

The woman scoffed at her. "My hair is practically put up so I'm not distracted. If I'm not distracted I get more done."

Ino stopped the older girl from saying more, "You look ugly with your hair up like that."

"Miss Yamanaka. If you say anymore I will throw something at you and I guarantee you will be missing an eye."

"Tenten."

Both girls turned sheepishly to the long haired pretty boy glaring at them. "Do not make scenes in my lobby."

_He doesn't even know what a scene is._ Ino thought to herself. She remembered plenty of hissy fits she's thrown in the past. This wasn't one of them.

Tenten bowed respectfully, "I'm so sorry Neji. I should have known better. I'm a professional and I wasn't acting like it."

Sakura and Ino exchanged a look. It was clear the brunette liked Neji, but Sakura wondered if he was the one to kiss Ino. She didn't think uptight would be Ino's cup of tea even though it came in an attractive package.

A _very_ attractive package nonetheless.

Sakura started to follow Ino, but Tenten stopped her.

"The meeting was between Neji and one other person. Not two people!"

Sakura glared at the girl as she started arguing with her. Before she knew it Ino was gone and she had no choice but to stay in the lobby.

Evil secretaries.

XXX

Ino fiddled with some items on his desk. She was nervous. He was irritated. She could tell even though she wouldn't look him in the eye or say anything.

"I have important work to do. If you do not speak about the reason you're here I will have to ask you to leave."

She winced. He was so cold, but she remembered pulling him closer and touching his long silky hair. "Why?"

He glared at her. When she didn't explain he stated, "Clarify."

"Why'd you kiss me that night?"

Neji looked away from her and started working on some documents. "I have no idea."

Now it was her turn to glare. "What do you mean you have no idea!? You glare at me like I'm some skank even though you don't know me and then kiss me and disappear into the night. What you did makes no sense!"

"I know."

_Why the hell is he so calm?_ Ino huffed at him. _What am I supposed to say now?_

"I've never been kissed like that."

The blond flushed. She couldn't believe she admitted _that_. It was a good thing Sakura wasn't allowed back here or she would be hearing about this for the rest of her life.

"To be fair you were dressed like a slut."

_What?_ Ino deadpanned. "You're an asshole."

"I'm just stating the facts, Yamanaka." He seemed to twitch at her words. Oh, she would let him have it now.

"Isn't it important to judge someone as who they are, not how they're dressed?"

He replied. "Most people make judgments about whether or not to engage with someone after first looking at their appearance and then their manner. Businessmen especially are trained for this."

"Then why'd you kiss me when you thought I was a slut? Easy lay?" Ino crossed her arms as he flushed. _Take that!_

"No, I do not hook up with random girls. I think that's… sleazy."

She started to laugh. Sleazy didn't seem to be a word he would associate with. "So why then?"

"You are friends with Hinata Hyuuga, are you not?"

"Yes?"

"She is my cousin. She told me about you, she talks about you and your friend Sakura all of the time. She was the one who gave you the invite to the party. I'm the one who told her to." Neji informed her as he gazed into her eyes to see her reaction.

"Why?" She was stunned. It was all she could ask.

"I wanted to meet you."

"That doesn't really explain things."

"I respect that you hold your ground and defend other people who can't defend themselves."

"So I make Hinata's bullies go away and you want to thank me." The blond supplied.

"Yes, which is why Tenten will help you pick out something more appropriate to wear and I will pick you up for dinner after work."

_What?_ "What if I say no?"

His clear eyes targeted her teal ones and she found herself backing down to his commanding tone. "You will not say no. Give Tenten your address after you are done shopping."

Why did she have to find her mystery man again? Ino shrugged it off as soon as she was away from his overpowering presence. She smirked to herself as she thought about the date they were going to have.

There was no way in hell she was going to dress 'appropriately'. Take that pretty boy! She'd show him who had the power here.


	6. Alternate Ending 2

Alternative Ending 2:

"Well the first guy wasn't it." Sakura eyed the pieces of paper before glaring at Ino. "And neither was the secret guy you met, but won't tell me about."

Ino shrugged. "Let's go with this one." She picked up one of the pieces randomly.

"What happened with Neji Hyuuga anyway?"

"He called me easy is the gist of it." Ino informed while she dialed the number.

"This better be the guy." Sakura mumbled.

XXX

"Wow, he's cute." Sakura whispered towards Ino. "But is that… is that a tattoo?"

"Yes." Ino eyed the green eyed red head who was sitting calmly on a park bench all by his lonesome. She continued to march towards him, even as the pink haired girl's footsteps faltered.

"I'll just stay here Ino. He looks like a serial killer."

Ino rolled her eyes. _Drama queen._

"Hi… Gaara?"

He nodded briefly before giving her the once over. Ino felt the urge to twitch at his jade orbs detailed her appearance and she had a feeling he saw more than she wanted him to.

"You wanted to meet me."

She felt the urge to shiver due to his deep voice. Instead she sat across from him. She tried to keep her mind off of his vibrant hair. She still remembered its sandy texture.

"So… uh… This is awkward." Ino started. He didn't answer her, so she continued on. "I know this is really weird, but I wanted to see you again because there never really was an explanation for why you kissed me."

"You're very beautiful."

Her face heated up. She had been told she was pretty many times, but his piercing eyes and even tone made her think that his statement was something he firmly believed.

"I didn't know you were the type to offer flattery."

"I'm not."

She stayed seated with him in silence feeling uncomfortable. Just as she was about to make an excuse to leave he spoke again.

"Do you want to meet again?"

"Eh?" Ino blinked. "You want to meet me again?"

He blushed. It was a cute little pink that made her want to give him a bear hug. "I do."

Ino propped up her arm to tease him. "You look cute when you blush."

Gaara fiddled with a napkin briefly before going still again. Ino's smile widened. "I'm really glad you kissed me on New Year's."

What a wonderful start to the New Year.

**This was actually supposed to be the 4****th**** alternate ending, but it came easier than the one that I'm trying to write…**


End file.
